more poetry to watch

Looking for a way to fill that spare hour? The Chicago Poetry Center suggests you tune in to Blue Hour, a free monthly reading series and generative writing workshop. Browse the complete playlist or just visit the Chicago Poetry Center YouTube channel.

poetry in Auburn

Built in 1937, the building at 20 Auburn Avenue NE served as a U.S. Post Office until the 1960s, when it was purchased by King County. Used as a medical center for over four decades, the building was listed on the King County Landmarks Register, the Washington State Heritage Register, and the National Register of Historic Places in 2000, and finally closed in 2009. Purchased by the City of Auburn in 2016, the historic building reopened as Postmark Center for the Arts in September 2023.

Along with a rich variety of arts programming, the Postmark Center is launching a poetry reading series, Poets at the Postmark, to be held on the first Wednesday of each month. The first reading will be held on Wednesday, January 3, 2024, beginning at 6:30pm, with featured reader Jim Teeters and an open mic. You’re invited.

time to decide

The annual Port Townsend Writers Conference, at Centrum in Port Townsend, Washington, is one of Cascadia’s most notable literary events. Writers gather for a week of generative, craft-centered workshops, lectures, and readings. Many programs are available both in-person and online. The faculty is stellar. The fees are substantial; tuition scholarships may be available.

A highlight of the Conference are the morning intensive workshops, which meet five mornings, in-person, for two-and-a-half hours, with a chosen faculty member. There are ten morning intensives scheduled for PTWC 2024. Enrollment for each intensive is limited to 14 participants. Registration for a morning intensive also includes access to all afternoon and evening programming, including craft lectures, afternoon workshops, and evening faculty readings at Fort Worden State Park. (It does not include housing or meals.) (Conference enrollment is also available without the morning intensive.)

As you might imagine, enrollment for the morning intensives fills up very fast. Registration opens Tuesday, January 2, 2024.

This is the perfect time to visit Centrum’s PTWC page and decide whether this will be your year to attend the Port Townsend Writers Conference, July 14-20, 2024.

Best-of poetry, 2023 part 2

In case your holiday haul didn’t include enough poetry books, here’s another roundup of titles considered “best of” for 2023:

• Book Riot – 12 of the Best Poetry Collections from 2023
• CBC – The best Canadian poetry of 2023
• Heavy Feather Review – “Cheers to the Weirdos! Part Deux”: Jesi Bender Presents a Heavy Feather Favorites List for 2023
• Library Journal – Best Poetry of 2023
• little infinite – Top Romantic Poetry Books from 2023
• Miramichi Reader – Here are the titles that our team of reviewers judged the “Best Poetry Collections” of 2023, in no particular order
• newsroom – Xmas: the best poetry books of 2023
• Publishers Weekly – Best Books 2023: Poetry
• School Library Journal – Best Poetry 2023 | SLJ Best Books

If you have a best-of-the-year poetry title to recommend, leave a comment!

on poetry

“I didn’t set out to write about grief. I’d accepted a commission to write about my favourite place. But it didn’t come alive until I thought about my real favourite place: our old caravan up by Fort William, where we’d escape whenever we had the chance. And it just came out. I find that often happens: you’re stuck with something until the point where you go, ‘To hell with it, I’ll tell the truth.’ And you do that quickly and rawly, and it’s fine.”
Liz Lochhead
(b. December 26, 1947)

. . . . .
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come the reindeer

last-minute gifts for your favorite poet

Whether you’re celebrating seasonal holidays, a birthday, a new writing studio, a book launch, or some other occasion (or even a non-event), you may be wondering what gift would be appreciated by a poet. Here are a few quite affordable ideas:

• Buy the poet’s book.
• Buy another copy and give it to someone. Repeat.
• Recommend the book to friends.
• If the poet’s book isn’t available at your local independent bookstore, request that they stock it.
• Find out how the book can get added to the collection in your local libraries, including school and university libraries.
• If you liked the poet’s book, write a short review on Goodreads or Amazon.
• Submit a longer review to a journal that publishes book reviews.
• Take a photo of the book cover (or grab a copy from the publisher’s website) and add it to your own website and social media with your words of praise.
• If the poet isn’t a close friend but you loved their book, write them a letter to tell them so.
• Give the poet a gift certificate to their local independent bookstore or literary center.
• Invite the poet to read at your event (club meeting, gathering at your home, etc.).
• Invite the poet to attend your book group as the featured writer.
• Give or renew a subscription to a literary journal.
• Like or heart or clap your appreciation on the poet’s blog posts or social media.
• Offer to do something that will free the poet to write for a couple of hours (cook a meal, drive the carpool, shop, run errands, etc.).
• Listen carefully and then start a fund for the poet’s “I wish” list. Invite others to contribute.

Please add your ideas in the comments!

. . . . .
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online in 2024

The University of Arizona Poetry Center has announced the lineup for the Spring 2024 Reading & Lecture Series. All of the events will be presented in person at the Poetry Center in Tucson and streamed live. The series, which runs January through May, will feature readings from Terrain.org, Edgar Kunz, Brenda Hillman, and many more.

The readings will be streamed at this link and hundreds of past readings are archived at the VOCA audiovisual archive. (On VOCA, click on Discover Recordings to browse by poet, year, or series.)

post a poem

The Skagit River Poetry Foundation invites you to brighten up the shortest day, Thursday, December 21, 2023, by writing a poem of 21 words or less and posting it as a Comment on the SRPF page on Facebook or Instagram.

winter classes

Ready to up your writing game this winter? Have a look at the Hugo House course catalog! You can select from many different genres, including poetry, of course, as well as different levels, lengths, times of day, days of week, audience, and format. There are loads of online classes available. You could get inspired just looking at the course descriptions!